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Rav Matharu


Born in Leeds with South Asian heritage, Matharu had an early career as a professional footballer, signing pro with Leeds United at the age of seventeen.

Rav Matharu is the owner and creative director of the first bespoke streetwear store on Savile row: cloth surgeon. Combining streetwear with high end tailoring, his store is the most unique on Savile row, which has attracted the attention of popular names in hip hop such as A$AP Rocky and Kendrick Lamar. Not to mention he’s the first south Asian designer to have a property on Savile row.
I had the pleasure of meeting Matharu for a modelling casting a few weeks back. After trying on a piece of his, I was blown away by the quality of the tailoring and how comfortable it was. I told him about my idea for my final piece, which he then showed me a suit he made with an addition of Nike tracksuit material. See the image below:

Matharu studied BA (Hons) Fashion at Leeds college of art and graduated in 2009 with First Class Honours. He then moved to London after graduating, founding Cloth Surgeon in 2012. Matharu’s advice to students like myself is “believe in what you do and work relentlessly, while constantly learning from your mistakes, because if there are no mistakes then there is no progression. Never give up on your vision.” These words inspire me to massive lengths and give me even more motivation to keep working hard and to keep creating so I can be as successful as Matharu himself. 
Matharu used various kinds of fabrics and colours which is what makes his work so beautiful and marketable. He mixes the fabric of soft Nike textures with rougher textures. His work is a contemporary interpretation of traditional tailoring. His work is made for people who want to own clothes that are made specifically for their bodies and that are unique.

For my final major project I’ve taken inspiration from one of Matharu’s Cloth Surgeon Bomber jackets by using similar colours and the same patch work effect. I’ve also taken inspiration from Cloth surgeon in the way they combine streetwear with business clothing. For my project I’m making a reversible outfit that is a grey tracksuit on one side and an elaborate streetwear styled 2 piece on the other.

Here are my sketches:

As you can see at the bottom of the page I have my references of inspiration: being cloth surgeon and the Carhartt reworked jacket.

I’ve drawn the top half of my design on top of one of Matharu’s Cloth Surgeon jackets: